Blatchford Development | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton

Glenco said:
I fail to see what this would accomplish besides traffic jams. Four or six lanes either side funneling into two is going to create a nightmare. You do realize there is a freeway in the making a few blocks north of there.
Comparing Blatchford to the burbs at this point is futile. How do you know what the feel is going to be like once the neighbourhood starts to take shape. Come back in a few years.
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Well, It's not like the connection between 118 avenue and Kingsway and Princess Elizabeth would cease to exist, for once. Also, 118 Ave east of 97 street is, essentially, a 2 lane road, considering that for the most part, the curb lane is always being used for parking (which we could use as an argument to do what we're doing with the curb lanes on Jasper Avenue).

You could also have a direct transit connection going all the way from Victoria Trail to 184 avenue, an east-west link south of Yellowed that we currently don't have, crossing a few major points, and linking residential to industrial areas.

It is also a great chance to redesign the whole intersection between 97 st, 101 st, 118 ave and Princess Elizabeth, especially that horrendous roundabout that is only rivalled by the Groat Road/118 Ave abomination.
 
Connect it to 118th with a bike freeway, and nice walking paths? Absolutely. With car traffic? Absolutely not. That's not what you want to invite into your neighborhood. I hope Blatchford becomes as uninviting to cars as possible in a North American city. And there's a decent chance I'm a future owner there.
 
dunno said:
Instead, we’ve got a new urbanist version of the neighbourhood unit concept from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Arterials ringing the neighbourhood so as to not disturb the peace of quaint suburban streets, disconnected from surrounding communities/amenities. Except this time it has LRT and bike lanes.
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Not a bad idea. It could justify the ludicrous costs of the townhouses.
 
yeggator said:
Not a bad idea. It could justify the ludicrous costs of the townhouses.
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Good neighbourhoods connect well with their surroundings. Strathcona bleeds into Garneau bleeds into the UofA. Major roads like 109 St connect Downtown with Garneau via iconic bridges and have important amenities lining them, rather than having a neighbourhood wall on the outer rim. Even Glenora isn’t fenced off and it’s no doubt going to remain more exclusive than Blatchford.

We should be looking at ways that Blatchford can better connect with NAIT, Westwood, Prince Charles, and Kingsway Mall both so that those in these areas can easily access the neighbourhood and contribute to its vibrancy and also so those in Blatchford can get around. And I’m not merely meaning with cars either, but MUPs, sidewalks, and bike lanes. Obviously the LRT is already going in so there’s that at least.
 
Barnaby said:
Connect it to 118th with a bike freeway, and nice walking paths? Absolutely. With car traffic? Absolutely not. That's not what you want to invite into your neighborhood. I hope Blatchford becomes as uninviting to cars as possible in a North American city. And there's a decent chance I'm a future owner there.
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You can connect with cars and still not be car-centric. Make it into a 2lane main/high street with wide sidewalks, bike lanes, parking (exclusively to handicap) and transit (buses) priority (no receded stops, with nice, architecturally interesting, shelters).

If you go to places that we usually associate with pedestrian/transit/bike first culture, like the Netherlands, they don't ban cars everywhere, and where it makes sense, there are connections. Having a road that prioritizes other modes of transportation doesn't necessarily means excluding cars completely. In the case of 118 avenue, connect west and east sides of it would make sense, and improve mobility on all fronts (and potentially serve as a good catalyst for some improvements in the east end of it, considering a better integration with Blatchford could very well mean more patrons for businesses there, etc...).

Right now, looking at the plans, what we have is a walkable bubble that is just as isolated from the urban fabric as most suburban areas from the 1950s and 1960s. Blatchford should (and could) be an example of how we can not only build, but integrate a dense, urban and walkable neighbourhood into the city fabric, and use it to spillover positive effects in adjacent areas.
 
I hadn't been out to the Blatchford area for quite a while - it really is inconvenient atm, I can't wait until they finish the connection to the east side so I can bike through the area instead of around it.
But it does feel like something is coming together - there isn't that much development, but that which is there feels high quality. There may not be a neighbourhood store but the pond is nice, and frankly the fields of foxtails all around look really beautiful at this time of year.
There's some nice views of downtown, and even if it's not fully walkable yet it's still reasonably convenient if you have a car or bike which most people would, superstore isn't very far.

I guess what I'm saying is, I can see the appeal even at this early stage, and I can see it not being impossible to sell someone on the concept right now, it does feel like it's in motion, with a few blocks filled up and lots of nice infrastructure being set up.

Although, please if we can get that east-west connection, the new LRT station(s), and some kind of neighbourhood commercial units! It does feel really close to being properly appealing.
 
JuliallThat said:
I hadn't been out to the Blatchford area for quite a while - it really is inconvenient atm, I can't wait until they finish the connection to the east side so I can bike through the area instead of around it.
But it does feel like something is coming together - there isn't that much development, but that which is there feels high quality. There may not be a neighbourhood store but the pond is nice, and frankly the fields of foxtails all around look really beautiful at this time of year.
There's some nice views of downtown, and even if it's not fully walkable yet it's still reasonably convenient if you have a car or bike which most people would, superstore isn't very far.

I guess what I'm saying is, I can see the appeal even at this early stage, and I can see it not being impossible to sell someone on the concept right now, it does feel like it's in motion, with a few blocks filled up and lots of nice infrastructure being set up.

Although, please if we can get that east-west connection, the new LRT station(s), and some kind of neighbourhood commercial units! It does feel really close to being properly appealing.
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I've always thought that the more it gets built the faster the building will get. I'm a huge fan of what I've seen so far, but in my opinion the biggest thing holding it back is that no one really wants to live in a giant open muddy construction site. As more of it gets built out I believe more people will be drawn to it.
 
A natural progression and acceleration will occur as it becomes more of a community, but the question still remains... when will that begin to occur and drive real velocity, interest and ROI.
 
While it is a central location and people may pay a bit more for that, I feel price has been a deterrent here. Also, you need to build up a critical mass and then more people will become interested.

I am not sure the slow pace has allowed them to reach that critical mass yet to get a broader appeal and start to grow faster.
 
fjordgard said:
Is there recent info that it might be moving? The DP was issued early this year but I haven’t seen much movement beyond a sign on the property. As a somewhat different product, this would be a great addition to the neighbourhood.
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The naming of the development and webpage is new, so I’d imagine that’s progress. 6 months ago there was no website or “pilot” branding.
 
thommyjo said:
The naming of the development and webpage is new, so I’d imagine that’s progress. 6 months ago there was no website or “pilot” branding.
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Name and website are over a year old, so don't think this has had any changes since the DP.

Blatchford Development | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton

Maybe it's just because I work in Vancouver where the distinction between land development and building development is less obvious, but this seems to be splitting hairs. You seem to be suggesting that because development arms of a company specialize in different areas, that the fact that...
edmonton.skyrisecities.com edmonton.skyrisecities.com
 
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